1 000 000 Mark

Heidelberg's municipal administration, like hundreds of German cities, was forced into emergency currency production as hyperinflation rendered Reichsbank notes obsolete faster than they could be printed. This million-mark piece is Notgeld in its most desperate phase — not the decorative regional issues of 1920–21 that collectors sought, but functional emergency money printed and authenticated locally out of sheer necessity.

The dry embossed stamp served as the primary anti-counterfeiting measure, a telling sign of how little infrastructure existed for proper security printing at this stage. By late 1923, a million marks would barely cover a tram fare.